Brightline Trains

[dcluley98]

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

Maybe published, or even what is supposedly allowed. I rode brightline this past weekend. I had two independent speed apps open, both correlated to one another. We were blowing through intersections in the 90 to 100 range. South of brevard, we hit 110mph and there were a few rural intersections down there that we were well over 100mph.  

However, regardless of the speed that I clocked, even 75 mph comes at you pretty quick, and if one is assuming it is a freight train in a distance coming at you and you have time to jump the gates, that may be the last assumption you make. 

OK, I would believe your actual results over what I thought was the case. 

Thanks for verification. 

[JFW657]

I bet this would get people's attention....

 

Though I'm guessing the air raid siren wouldn't go over very big with the neighbors. 

 

Still..... 

[orlandocity87]

I guess I don't see what the difference between train tracks and a large road is. Do people regularly run red lights trying to cross a section of Colonial where cars are going 60+ mph? Do people try to walk or drive across I-4 in areas where there are no fences? 

In a state where 3,500 people die in car accidents each year (not to mention the 9,500 pedestrians who are hit by cars every year leading to 800 annual fatalities), I hate how much attention very avoidable train deaths get.  

[GregoryMCSE]

4 hours ago, RedStar25 said:

Ok I get what you are saying. I am so used to people blaming the train for peoples stupidity that I automatically read it through that lens. 

I do hate for people to die violently, but Darwin had a point. 

I grew up in Melbourne.  I am trying to be nice… to avoid stating the obvious… it is idiotic to try and beat a train.  Darwin wins again.  

[dcluley98]

Yeah, in Brevard, they have the Retirees, the Engineers, and the "Brevard *abbreviated word that has been cancelled but rhymes with Brevard*'s".  Pretty sure we know which group these fall into. 

[Ivanhoe]

On Sunday, I witnessed 3 motorcycles, 2 cars, and countless pedestrians jump the tracks at NE 20th St in Wynwood while waiting for Brightline to cross.

This is not an isolated problem in Melbourne.

We can be thankful that Brightline is not sharing existing rail at Central Florida stations (current and future expansion to Tampa).

Edited January 22 by Ivanhoe

[codypet]

On 1/17/2024 at 10:49 AM, JFW657 said:

I bet this would get people's attention....

 

Though I'm guessing the air raid siren wouldn't go over very big with the neighbors. 

 

Still..... 

That looks like the footings for it there on the right.  The tree and power pole placement look right too.

Edited January 22 by codypet

[shardoon]

Update from the cancelled train and delay from a little over a week ago. I got a random email thanking me for having patience with the delay and gave me and my family a $1000.00 Brightline credit for use  expiring in 3 months. Not bad considering the delay really was out of their hands, but quite inconvenient arriving in Miami after midnight.  I applaud them on that. Wouldn't that be nice if airlines behaved the same way? 

[codypet]

$1000?  How much was the original ticket?!?!?!?

[shardoon]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

$1000?  How much was the original ticket?!?!?!?

I am quite surprised too. I was traveling with the family. Total of 2 adults and 3 kids. You get one kid free with each traveling adult and the 3rd child was a child fare price. Total for the 5 of us round trip was about $250. Not very expensive considering it was for 5 people. If I had my car, the hotel would have charged $50 bucks a night parking plus the gas and toll savings almost make it an even wash...... but I do not have to drive, so that's a plus. 

[Gtothree2748]

On 1/22/2024 at 7:23 AM, Ivanhoe said:

On Sunday, I witnessed 3 motorcycles, 2 cars, and countless pedestrians jump the tracks at NE 20th St in Wynwood while waiting for Brightline to cross.

This is not an isolated problem in Melbourne.

We can be thankful that Brightline is not sharing existing rail at Central Florida stations (current and future expansion to Tampa).

Thanks to Sunrail, the Orlando area has seen improvement with RR crossing safety.
When sunrail started service 10 years ago you would hear about incidents a lot more often. Over the years there have been a number of safety features added to busier crossings and various ad campaigns promoting train safety throughout the metro. Of course there will always be people who are clueless so the ultimate solution is to prioritize getting all major crossings elevated. 
 

Does anyone know if the segment of the sunshine  corridor between the airport and Taft will be elevated? Since that section will be using existing tracks. 

Edited January 25 by Gtothree2748

[cubanbread]

Anything new that Brightline builds will need to be grade separate that's state law.  

Another small update on the line to Tampa https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2024/01/25/brightline-sells-rights-to-affiliate.html, 

Summary: Brightline has made a strategic move by selling its planned Orlando to Tampa rail line to its affiliate, "Brightline Tampa", a step that brings Florida closer to a connected future. The sale, completed on January 2, aligns with the company's vision to link major economic regions in Florida, offering a practical and efficient travel solution for a significant portion of the state's population. With strong ridership figures and plans to refinance its debt, Brightline is laying the groundwork for sustainable growth and enhanced connectivity in the region, promising an improved travel experience for millions of Floridians.

[shardoon]

23 minutes ago, cubanbread said:

Anything new that Brightline builds will need to be grade separate that's state law.  

Another small update on the line to Tampa https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2024/01/25/brightline-sells-rights-to-affiliate.html, 

Summary: Brightline has made a strategic move by selling its planned Orlando to Tampa rail line to its affiliate, "Brightline Tampa", a step that brings Florida closer to a connected future. The sale, completed on January 2, aligns with the company's vision to link major economic regions in Florida, offering a practical and efficient travel solution for a significant portion of the state's population. With strong ridership figures and plans to refinance its debt, Brightline is laying the groundwork for sustainable growth and enhanced connectivity in the region, promising an improved travel experience for millions of Floridians.

That may be difficult once it pulls into the downtown Tampa area. Also, with a potential future into Jacksonville, would this prevent them from using their existing FEC line North of Cocoa? 

[Gtothree2748]

29 minutes ago, cubanbread said:

 

Anything new that Brightline builds will need to be grade separate that's state law.  

 

I believe brightline is going to follow an existing rail line for that first segment of the sunshine corridor, which includes an at grade crossing at boggy creek road. Thankfully orange Ave has an over pass. 

[dcluley98]

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

That may be difficult once it pulls into the downtown Tampa area. Also, with a potential future into Jacksonville, would this prevent them from using their existing FEC line North of Cocoa? 

His point was "New".  The existing FEC corridor they own is not new, so grandfathered in (as well as CSX for sunshine and probably some lines they are looking at in Tampa - tons of existing rail lines connect to Tampa west of US 41 due to there being the port right next to Tampa DT). 

[cubanbread]

3 hours ago, shardoon said:

That may be difficult once it pulls into the downtown Tampa area. Also, with a potential future into Jacksonville, would this prevent them from using their existing FEC line North of Cocoa? 

Once they exit I-4 in Ybor City they'll have no option but to elevate. The most likely route, as far as I can see, is exiting at 15th street then follow the Nuccio Parkway alignment to Tampa Union Station.
I'm confident they'll announce where the station will be sometime this year, in a way they kind of have to. That whole section of Ybor city is slated for development, a project called GasWorx that's going to bridge Ybor, Channelside, and downtown has already started construction on the first phase and if they want to prevent any potential NIMBYisms from the new condo owners along Nuccio the best way to do that is to have the station location locked down before people start moving in. 

 

 

[dcluley98]

Yeah, that is IF they go to Tampa Union. I have seen other potential locations including in Ybor itself and just using the TECO street car to connect to Channelside and DT, and another one north of I-4, which didn't make much sense connectivity-wise). 

 

Quite frankly, I don't think Tampa Union location is a good choice, as it is not an ideal location and the developable area adjacent was limited by the construction of the Selmon Expressway years ago. It also would not connect to the Streetcar there. 

Edited January 27 by dcluley98

[cubanbread]

There doesn't seem to be a stand out perfect spot in Tampa at the moment. Tampa Union just seems to be the leading contender, there's still plenty of room to develop around it, it's only a couple of blocks from the streetcar, not ideal but fairly close. Not to mention, the MetroRapid stops there and it would be a direct connection to USF and South Tampa should Hillsborough get the rights to use the CSX tracks which has been looking for funding for many years.  But again, I'm confident we'll find out this year. Best case scenario , the FED awards Brightline with funding to Tampa and they duel announce the station location and funding.

Either way, for those who've been following there continues to be positive movement towards Tampa, so here hoping we get confirmation this year that it's really happening. 

[Ivanhoe]

The Selmon Xpress really dissected the Tampa grid in the worst possible ways. 
If only they could “Big Dig” that mess (one can dream) it would open up unforeseen potential in the CBD.  

Edited January 31 by Ivanhoe

[dcluley98]

3 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

The Selmon Xpress really dissected the Tampa grid in the worst possible ways. 
If only they could “Big Dig” that mess (one can dream) it would open up unforeseen potential in the CBD.  

Agreed, and then they made it even worse with the Connector that put giant elevated interchanges directly across a historic district, further exacerbating the problem. 

 

[jrs2]

 

[jrs2]

This vid is about taking BL to Port Everglades.  The station is not close at all.  However, the Miami station is in an optimal location to PortMiami.  Even if BL placed a station in Brevard, that is still 5-7 miles due west, which is better than nothing, but you would have to set up a bus station there to shuttle people in (because that would be the only reason to have a station there versus downtown FTL and Mia).  

 

[shardoon]

Just an update. I utilized the $1000 credit from last month. Being that it was President's Day weekend and I bought at the last minute, prices were steep.  I honestly didn't care because this was the only weekend that I would have been able to travel and utilize the credit before it expired. For 2 people roundtrip Friday to Sunday first class...... a little over $900 LOL.  Both trains were on time and left literally on the minute. I enjoyed the Brightline included uber which probably would have ran for $40-50 since I went to a beachside hotel. The lounge was good. Food selection was better than the Club at MCO.  Included food selection on the train was plentiful and pretty good. I had a caprese pesto sandwich on a Ciabatta bread.  They try to keep feeding you and it was good food, even the snacks. The snacks included pringles, granola bars, pringles,  fullsize M&Ms/Peanut M&Ms, Kind bars,  and gummy bears. Drinks were unlimited too with Pepsi products, beer, wine, and full liquor. 

[jrs2]

35 minutes ago, shardoon said:

Just an update. I utilized the $1000 credit from last month. Being that it was President's Day weekend and I bought at the last minute, prices were steep.  I honestly didn't care because this was the only weekend that I would have been able to travel and utilize the credit before it expired. For 2 people roundtrip Friday to Sunday first class...... a little over $900 LOL.  Both trains were on time and left literally on the minute. I enjoyed the Brightline included uber which probably would have ran for $40-50 since I went to a beachside hotel. The lounge was good. Food selection was better than the Club at MCO.  Included food selection on the train was plentiful and pretty good. I had a caprese pesto sandwich on a Ciabatta bread.  They try to keep feeding you and it was good food, even the snacks. The snacks included pringles, granola bars, pringles,  fullsize M&Ms/Peanut M&Ms, Kind bars,  and gummy bears. Drinks were unlimited too with Pepsi products, beer, wine, and full liquor. 

how was the ridership looking?

[orlandocity87]

1 hour ago, shardoon said:

For 2 people roundtrip Friday to Sunday first class...... a little over $900 LOL.  

Woof. I have the same credit I need to use in the next few months. Without it, I definitely wouldn't do first class.

Although, looking at business/first class flights MCO-MIA two weeks out is also $400-800 per person. Brightline is expensive but still competitive.